Data Spotlight: Growth Spurt in Suburban Poverty

From 2000 to 2013, the number of suburban households below the federal poverty threshold in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan region doubled from 154,769 (7.2%) to 309,293 (11.9%). Suburban poverty grew almost 3 times as fast as urban poverty. Growth of suburban poverty in our region echoes a national trend. Nationally, however, suburban poverty seems to be leveling off, while locally it’s gathering momentum.